A dispensary opened Thursday in Dover, and freshly cultivated cannabis from the Temescal Wellness center was on hand for the 40 people who showed up.

As he checked on the plants at the cultivation facility, Anthony Parrinello, the executive director of Temescal Wellness, said the cannabis will make a difference for many patients.

"Unfortunately, all they have left is hope," he said.

He said he saw it first-hand when the Dover dispensary opened this week. All the cannabis distributed came from the new facility.

"We will be visiting our locations probably about once a week," he said.

Some of the largest plants were planted from seed in February and are just weeks away from becoming a finished product. They will then be dried and packaged for sale.

The plants start small, but with high-tech watering systems and lighting, they grow in as little as four months. Parrinello said there are about 30 different strains of plants to meet everyone's needs.

"High-THC plants can stimulate appetite," he said. "A high-CBD strain is very good at countering opioid use."

Visitors and workers must wear protective clothing and hair nets inside the facility. Parrinello said contamination could mean the loss of a valuable crop.

"We would have a disruption in our production cycle, and then patients aren't going to have medicine for a period of time, and that's not fair to them," he said.

Temescal will service not only the Dover dispensary but also one in Lebanon, which is expected to open in the coming weeks. There are two other cultivation centers in the state, and there will be four dispensaries in all.